Drag shoe for railroad cars



June 17, 1969 w. BLOMECKE ET AL 3,450,061

DRAG SHOE FOR RAILROAD CARS Sheet Filed Oct. 13, 1967 INVE mR June 17,1969 w BLOMECKE ETAL 3,450,061

DRAG SHOE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Oct. 13, 1967 Sheet 2 Of 3 I L I Y Jww ML; Ly 38 51 at June 17, 1969 Filed Oct. 13, 1967 WL'BLOMECKE ET ALDRAG SHOE FOR RAILROAD CARS Sheet 5 013 United States Patent ()fficePatented June 17, 1969 US. Cl. 104-259 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A drag shoe for railroad cars is provided with anautomatically operating throw-01f device composed of two mirror invertedunits each of which consists of a loadactuated lever and a throw-offlever connected thereto by means of a tension spring. The load-actuatedlever comes against the force of said tension into locking engagementwith a locking pawl when a wheel runs onto the drag shoe and thethrow-01f lever is at the same time pressed against the upper surface ofthe rail and thus into a position in which it is ready to throw the dragshoe off the rail as soon as the wheel has cleared the drag shoe. Theunits are located on both sides of the longitudinal center line of thedrag shoe so that the drag shoe is always thrown to the outside of thetrack.

Background of the invention This invention relates to drag shoes forrailroad cars, and more specifically to a drag shoe comprising anautomatically operating throw-off device which is able to throw off thedrag shoe to the outside of the track when it has been cleared by a carwheel.

In the known drag shoes of this kind, additional weights are providedfor the automatic throwing-off of the drag shoe. These weights come intoaction after relieve of the drag shoe and are intended to remove it fromthe rail by displacement of the center of gravity. Due to theirparticular construction, such devices are susceptible to trouble and,due to the unavoidable rough handling in marshalling yards, have only ashort service life. They do not only require special care duringhandling, but they further involve the danger of accidents becauseneither the throwing off of the drag shoe per se nor throwing off of thedrag shoe to a predetermined side of the track is ensured.

Summary of the invention It is the object of the present invention toprovide a drag shoe which avoids the use of pivotable weights, can notonly reliably and efiiciently be removed from the rail but canfurthermore be thrown off to a predetermined side, namely theunendangered outside of the track, irrespective of which rail the dragshoe is fitted to.

To attain this object, the present invention provides a drag shoe forrailroad cars which comprises a base plate formed integral with asloping tongue at its forward end, carrying a handle with a depressionat its rearward end and having an elongated cutout portion intermediatesaid ends; a casing-like structure having side walls and a detachableinclined wheel-engaging plate for a railroad car wheel, said casing-likestructure being arranged above said elongated cutout portion in saidbase plate; an automatically operating throw-off device mounted in saidcasing-like structure and consisting of two spaced parallel throw-oifunits arranged on both sides of the longitudinal center line of the dragshoe and consisting each of a two-armed load-actuated lever carrying awing-like projection extending transversely to the plane of swing ofsaid lever and outwardly of the casing-like structure through a slot inthe respective side wall thereof for actuation by a car Wheel flange, adouble-armed throw-off lever, and a tension spring connecting one arm ofthe latter lever to the load-actuated lever; an angular locking pawladapted to lock either of the load-actuated levers in its rearwardposition upon depression of the wing-like projection by the car wheelflange and a corresponding rearward movement of the load-actuated leverunder simultaneously tensioning the tension spring and pressing theother arm of the double-armed throw-off lever against the upper surfaceof the rail head so as to be ready for throwing off the drag shoe to theoutside of the track when said car wheel has cleared said drag shoe.

In this manner, only the throw-01f lever fitted to the inner half of therail head is actuated and laterally lifts the drag shoe and tilts itover to the outside.

Conveniently, both throw-oft units are arranged-side by side inmirror-inverted relationship in the casing-like structure, common axlesfor both load-actuated levers and for both throw-01f levers beingmounted in the side walls of the casing-like structure.

The angular locking pawl is preferably pivotably mounted in thedepression provided in the handle and has one of its legs divergingtowards its free end and provided with a hook-shaped stop forco-operation with the hook-shaped noses on the load-actuated levers,whereas the other leg is acted upon by a compression spring fitted tothe handle of the drag shoe.

Further advantages of the invention reside in that the parts of thethrow-off unit are removable and therefore also easily exchangeable incase of need or even completely removable so that, if desired, the dragshoe may be used Without the throw-oft device as a normal brake shoe.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view, partly insection, of a drag shoe according to the invention, the tension springsnot being illustrated;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1,showing the drag shoe ready for action;

FIG. 3 is a similar section showing the drag shoe in locked position,ready for throwing oil;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross section on the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a further top plan view of the drag shoe, and

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section through the rear portion of the dragshoe in the case where the running surface of the impacting car wheel isworn-out.

Description of the preferred embodiment In the drawings, the drag shoeis fitted to a rail head 1 (FIG. 4) and comprises a base plate 2 formedintegral with a sloping tongue 3 at its forward end, a handle 4 locatedat the rearward end of the drag shoe and a casing-like structureconsisting substantially of side walls 5 and 6 and a detachable inclinedwheel-engaging plate '7 for cooperation with a railroad car wheel 8.

Two spaced throw-off units are accommodated in the casing-like structureand each of them comprises a twoarmed load-actuated lever 9, a tensionspring 10 and a double-armed throw-off lever 11, 12. Both theloadactuated lever 9 and the throw-off lever 11, 12 are pivotable to alimited extent round axles 13 and 14, respectively, mounted in the sidewalls 5 and 6 of the casinglike structure. An elongated cutout portion15 is provided in the case plate 2 intermediate the ends thereof for thepassage therethrough of the long arms 12 of the throwoff levers 11, 12.

Each two-armed load-actuated lever 9 carries a wing-like projection 16or 17 extending transversely to the plane of swing of the load-actuatedlever 9 and outwardly of the casing-like structure through a slot 18 inthe respective side wall 5 or 6 thereof. One end of the tension spring10 is attached to the free end of the load-actuated lever 9, whereas theother end is attached to the short arm 11 of the throw-off 11, 12, thelong arm 12 of which is held in its inoperative or rest position shownin FIG. 2 a short distance above the rail head 1 by means of a spring(not shown). As can be seen from FIG. 4, the parallel spaced long arms12 of the two throw-off levers are each arranged at some distance apartfrom the respective lateral edge of the rail head 1.

Each load-actuated lever 9 has a bent end portion provided with ahook-shaped nose 21 for cooperation with a hook-shaped stop 28 on anangular locking pawl 23, 24 pivotable round an axle 25 mounted in thecarrying handle 4. A depression 27 provided in the carrying handle 4serves for the temporary reception of the leg 24 acted upon by acompression spring 26. The other leg 23 of the locking pawl divergestowards its free end which is provided with said stop 28 cooperatingwith the hookshaped nose 21 formed on the bent end portion 20 of theload-actuated lever 9.

The drag shoe operates in the following manner:

When the railroad car wheel 8 impacts against the inclinedwheel-engaging plate 7 of the drag shoe, the projecting arm 16 or 17 ofone of the load-actuated levers 9 is simultaneously actuated by a carwheel flange 30. The lever 9 is thereby pivoted from its inoperativeposition (FIG. 2) into the position shown in FIG. 3 against the force ofthe tension spring 10, in which position the hook-shaped nose 21 engagesthe stop 28 of the locking pawl 23, 24 and locks the load-actuated lever9. Due to the wheel 8 running back after completion of the brakingoperation, the drag shoe will be relieved of the load and the action ofthe tension spring 10 thereby relaxing and suddenly displacing thethrow-off 12 into the position indicated by dot and dash lines in FIGS.3 and 6, will cause the drag shoe to be lifted on that longitudinal sideof the rail head 1 which lies adjacent the wheel flange 30 in such amanner that the drag shoe will jump off the rail to the side oppositethe wheel fiange 30, i.e., to the outside of the track irrespective ofthe location of the rail to which the drag shoe is fitted.

The load-actuated lever 9 will still remain in its locked position. Therelease of the lever 9 required for returning it into its inoperativeposition will occur automatically by the drag shoes own weight when thelatter is being picked up. Such being the case, the leg 24 of thelocking pawl 23, 24 which is pivotably mounted in the handle 4 isactuated against the action of the compression spring 26, and thehook-shaped nose 21 is disengaged from the stop 28.

FIG. 6 shows the loaded position with a wheel 8 having a worn-out tread31. It can be seen that also in such a case the load-actuated lever 9 islocked by the locking pawl leg 23 by mutual engagement of the nose 21and the stop 28, and actuation of the throw-off lever 11, 12 is ensuredwhen the drag shoe is relieved of load.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be 4 considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive.

What is claimed is:

1. A drag shoe for railroad cars comprising (a) a base plate formedintegral with a sloping tongue at its forward end, carrying a handlewith a depression at its rearward end and having an elongated cutoutportion intermediate said ends;

(b) a casing-like structure having side walls and a detachable inclinedwheel-engaging plate for a railroad car wheel, said casing-likestructure being arranged above said elongated cutout portion in saidbase plate;

(c) an automatically operating throw-oft device mounted in saidcasing-like structure and consisting of two spaced parallel throw-offunits arranged on both sides of the longitudinal center line of the dragshoe and consisting each of (d) a two-armed load-actuated lever carryinga winglike projection-extending transversely to the plane of swing ofsaid lever and outwardly of the casinglike structure through a slot inthe respective side wall thereof for actuation by a car wheel flange,

(e) a double-armed throw-off lever, and

(f) a tension spring connecting one arm of the latter lever to theload-actuated lever;

(g) an angular locking pawl adapted to lock either of the load-actuatedlevers in its rearward position upon depression of the wing-likeprojection by the car wheel flange and a corresponding rearward movementof the load-actuated lever under simultaneously tensioning the tensionspring and pressing the other arm of the double-armed throw-off leveragainst the upper surface of the rail head so as to be ready forthrowing off the drag shoe to the outside of the track when said carwheel has cleared said drag shoe.

2. A drag shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein both throw-01f units arearranged side by side in mirror-inverted relationship in the casing-likestructure, common axles for both load-actuated levers and for boththrowotf levers being mounted in the side walls of the casinglikestructure.

3. A drag shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein the angular locking pawlis pivotably mounted in the depression provided in the handle and hasone of its legs diverging towards its free end and provided with ahook-shaped stop for co-operation with the hookshaped noses on theload-actuated levers, whereas the other leg is acted upon by acompression spring fitted to the handle of the drag shoe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,081,208 12/1913 Carduck l04-26OARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. DANIEL F. WORTH, III, AssistantExaminer.

US. Cl. X.R. 104-260

